Defensive-minded Muschamp must infuse Gators with offense

GAINESVILLE – In the days leading up to the University of Florida spring football scrimmage Saturday, I asked Coach Will Muschamp about one of the media members he chose to be a ceremonial coach.

Pat Dooley, the sports columnist of the Gainesville Sun, was coaching in the spring game for the second consecutive season. When it was pointed out that Dooley's UF coaching tenure had now lasted longer than that of former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, Muschamp cracked: "Hopefully, he can score more points."

Considering how bad Weis' offense was last year, plucking a sportswriter from the press box might have actually been a slight improvement. Hopefully for UF fans, plucking new offensive coordinator Brent Pease from Boise State will be a massive upgrade.

Of course, we won't know this until the fall, but at least the early returns from the spring game were promising. The two quarterbacks competing for the starting job – Jeff Driskel of Oviedo and Jacoby Brissett of West Palm Beach – both looked comfortable and confident. Driskel was 10-of-11 for 133 yards and led his blue team to a 21-20 victory. Brissett was 8-of-12 for 181 yards and two touchdowns and came within a failed two-point conversion from pulling out the victory.

Whether it's Driskel or Brissett leading the offense in the fall, they have but one edict: Make Florida's offense fun again for a fan base that is growing surprisingly apathetic.

"We need to be productive," Muschamp said. "I'm not into style points."

He may not be, but UF's finicky fan base certainly is. A word of advice for Muschamp as he heads into his second year: If he wants to head into his third year without feeling the wrath of Gator Nation, he needs to do one of two things (1) Win 10 or 11 games seasons this year (2) Win seven or eight games but do it with an exciting offense.

Being bad is one thing. Being bad and boring is the quickest way to create the negativity that former UF coach Urban Meyer used to refer to as "Gator nonsense." Florida fans, like most fans, want to win championships, but if you want to keep them happy in the meantime then give them an offense that's entertaining.

That certainly wasn't the case last year under Weis, the purported offensive guru who Muschamp hired to help convert Meyer's spread offense to a pro style attack. Instead, Weis converted it into more of a Pop Warner-style attack.

The Gators were ranked 105th in the nation, which is inexcusable for a team from Florida. Certainly, the lack of offensive playmakers left behind by Meyer was one of the problems, but Weis still did a lousy job with what he had.

"It was very embarrassing," UF wide receiver Quinton Dunbar admitted.

Weis brought Super Bowl credentials to the Gators last season, but his offense looked more like it belonged in the Stupor Bowl. For whatever reason – whether it was his health, his work ethic or his arrogance – Weis was a disaster. Dunbar, for one, believes Pease will be a better fit than Weis.

"We feel like Coach Pease understands us more and is more of a teacher instead of just yelling at you all the time," Dunbar said.

Muschamp, a former defensive coordinator, needs Pease to be successful in revamping Florida's offense. After two consecutive subpar seasons, fan apathy is starting to infect Gator Nation.

After 137 straight sellouts dating back more than two decades, the Gators could not fill their stadium for the home opener last season in the first game of the Muschamp coaching era. And then at the end of the year, Florida played a bowl game in Gator-crazy Jacksonville and sold only about half of its allotment of 15,000 tickets.